In Her Sights (The Thousand Words Series Book 2) by Tori Brooks

something that a very vocal percent of the population didn’t like and that eliminated her from the running. Yeah, well, bigots are out there and that didn’t eliminate minorities from the competition. Kenny almost pointed that out but stopped himself, sensing he’d get slapped from half-way around the world. He wasn’t sure how Paige would manage it, just that she would.
    “Get your head in the game,” Jess said, smacking the back of Kenny’s head as he walked by backstage. “We’re on soon.”
    Kenny reached up to smooth his hair back into place, only to have one of the roadies place a guitar in that hand instead. Kenny smoothed his hair with his other hand and slipped on his guitar. He’d managed to get himself ready and to the arena without even paying much attention. For the next few hours, he’d be distracted by music, fans, and the antics of Jess and Dev; Kenny wouldn’t have time to worry about Paige. He suspected that was a good thing.
    And then the show was over and his mind was free to wander again. Kenny left Jess in the hands of some capable fans to help him get the green goo washed off –where did Dev get that to materialize from? Kenny wondered. Dev retreated to his hotel room to either hide from Jess or call his demon girlfriend. Either way, Gere wasn’t with him. Bryan went to bed, and Kenny was happy to retreat to his own room.
    He felt like he’d run a marathon and all he really wanted to do was fall into bed, but he had a routine. He’d sleep better if he had a shower first. Getting ready for a speed-shower, he remembered Paige had something planned tonight, so he was off the hook on telling her his rudimentary plan to ... something. He came up with something earlier, a vague plan. He couldn’t think now, he was too tired.
    Shower over, Kenny put on shorts and crawled into bed. Banging on his door coincided with his head hitting the pillow.
    “Kenny!” Dev’s voice sounded almost frantic, and it was the only thing that kept Kenny from sandwiching his ears between both pillows to ignore the assault on his door. Swearing, Kenny got up, switched on the lights and opened the door. Dev almost fell into the room.
    “I had a message waiting from Cassie. It was cryptic. I just got off the phone with her. Kenny, we have to go home. There was a car accident –”
    “Cassie?” Kenny asked. It couldn’t be. It just wasn’t possible. Didn’t Dev deserve a break?
    “No. Tiff.”
    Kenny exhaled. Not that it was much better. Dev knew Tiffany longer and better than the rest of them did. She and Cassie were best friends since they were little, they grew up together, so Dev grew up with her too by default.
    He took Dev’s arm and led him to the bed, having to force him down to make him sit. Dev shook slightly with adrenaline, Kenny assumed. And he looked pale.
    “How bad was it?” Kenny asked, leaving a hand on Dev’s shoulder.
    “It was an auto-ped in New York. She died at the scene. Cassie was with her.” Dev looked at him asking for understanding, and he understood, but it was more than Dev’s needs that Kenny understood at that moment.
    Sitting beside Dev, Kenny took a deep breath. “I assume the funeral will be in the next few days?”
    Dev nodded. “We can make it. Cassie needs –”
    “She’s your sister, Dev. She needs family with her. I get that. Now I want you to listen to me for a minute about Jess.”
    “What about him?” Dev asked and Kenny couldn’t fail to catch the warning in Dev’s tone. First that, as much as they fought, Dev and Jess were friends. Second, Jess’s designs on Cassie were a taboo subject around the youngest of their band.
    “He wouldn’t do anything to hurt her or take advantage while Cassie is grieving. You know that. But we don’t talk about Jess’s feelings for Cassie and there’s something you should know.”
    Dev looked like he was going to protest, but seemed to think better of it. Not that he wouldn’t later.
    “Shortly after Teri and